Hey guys! My name is Rianne, and I am a fourth year nursing student from UPEI, doing my internship in a small town called Kiirua, in Kenya. There are four of us from my class, and we are working as student nurses at a Mission Hospital here.

We are working 5 day weeks and rotating throughout different areas of the hospital. Mondays through Wednesdays, we are right on the hospital grounds, and working on a maternity ward, medical surgical ward, or in a maternal clinic, and when the opportunity arises, we attend surgeries. Thursdays, we all head out on HIV/AIDS outreach with a Registered Nurse from the hospital, as well as a client here that is HIV positive. During these Thursdays, we go to different communities- some areas with a lot of poverty- and go door to door and educate families about HIV/AIDS. We talk about how it is transmitted, treatment options, and medical expenses. Many times it is difficult for us to communicate with the residents, as they mostly speak Ki Swahili, or another mother tongue, but being there to witness the education between the nurse and residents is amazing as it is. It is unbelievable how little people know about the disease- especially when many of them are potentially positive, and how prevalent the illness is in this country. Fridays we finish off by going to a Children’s Home with children ranging from ages 0-5. After 5 years old, they are sent back into the community with the hopes that they will find someone to live with or take care of them. We mostly work with the infants, and help to bathe, feed, and play with them- the home is under-staffed, and although playing with them is no chore for us, it is a big help so that the workers can have a small break for the day.

We have experienced some pretty amazing things since we got here- the first day at the hospital we got to see a baby born, the first week at the hospital one of the moms in maternity named her baby boy Ryan, after me, and after the first month, a couple of the girls got to scrub in on a surgery. We are certainly not lacking nursing experience this summer!

It is hard to believe how quickly a month and a half has gone, and that in one month from today we will be back on Prince Edward Island. This summer has been amazing, and a much better learning experience  than staying home and working would have been. I haven’t gotten overly homesick since we have been here, although the last couple days I have been having major cravings for a Tim’s coffee!

We get back to the Island on a Saturday and start our last year of nursing on Monday, so we don’t have too much time to relax when we get home, but I am looking forward to finishing this year so I can start applying the skills we have learned. I believe that with the opportunities we had this summer at the hospital, we have been taught how to be resourceful with the materials we have access to, and without much technology. I think that I will become a better nurse because of it!

Children's Home

Categorie : Kenya, Durant le stage // 1 commentaire »